The bonds that tie
by Partial Insanity
Summary: After spending so many years experiencing death so many times, Rika's in for a surprise: Her older step-brother has returned to Hinamizawa. Will he be able to help her escape from her fated death? She can only hope. However, hope is the most painful thing you can give someone.


**Disclaimer: **_I don't own any characters used in this fanfic._

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**Prologue**

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_**Date**: 1978_

_**Location: **Hinamizawa dam construction planning meeting  
_

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Voices That's the first sound that Hector Furuude heard as he walked by the building that held the meeting. Loud, angry voices.

"That's not what we're asking! I'm asking you who the hell agreed to build this dam despite everyone being against it!"

Hector quietly opened the door and peeked in, curious to see how the meeting was going.

"As I told you earlier..." Said one of the men who had arrived to inform the villagers of Hinamizawa about the dam, mopping his brow.

One of the villagers interrupted him; "Don't try to come up with excuses! We want to know when you're calling off this project!"

"But you see..." The man tried speaking, clearly nervous about all this outrage from the village, but he was interrupted again, this time by another villager.

"Who are you to talk anyway? Get the Minister of Police down here from Tokyo already!" The other villagers shouted in agreement.

"Calm down." The voice that spoke up was old, but still commanded a lot of respect, and held a lot of authority. At once everyone fell silent and turned around to reveal Oryō Sonozaki, the head of the Sonozaki family.

She sat there with her eyes closed, undisturbed by all the shouting going on around her with her daughter, Akane Sonozaki, to her left, and the Sonozaki bodyguard, Kasai, to her right.

"In any case, we refuse your proposition. Go back to Tokyo and tell that to your superiors. This is the consensus of the village."

Hector grinned in triumph. He wasn't native to Hinamizawa, as his dad had married the head of the Furude house and they had moved there five years ago, but he still loved the village, and everyone in it.

The villagers inside all started cheering while the two men from the government looked at each other in bewilderment, when suddenly someone shouted.

"Shut up! You're saying this because that's what's best for you."

Everyone fell silent and turned around to see a group of villagers standing there, and they looked angry for a different reason.

One of the men stepped forward, presumably the leader of the group, and the one who shouted.

"Don't go and decide for all of us."

"Hey!" One of the Sonozaki members walked up to the man, speaking as he went; "You know that you're talking to Oryō-san, don't you? Trying to pick a fight eh?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Shut up! Who cares if you're a Sonozaki! I'm a Houjou! You bourgeois can stay out of this! There are far too many poor people in Hinamizawa! We're different from you rich guys, rich enough to have nice houses with fields in the mountains! I'm fine with the government's reparations!"

"They also said they'd provide us with jobs and public housing, so it's more than enough! And you come here and say you'll take it all away? When did you become the one who speaks for all of us?!"

The rest of the villagers on Houjou's side all yelled in agreement. Hector sighed, knowing full well that this wouldn't end well, and started to step in when Oryō spoke up.

"Houjou...Is that all you have to say, you traitor?! Just leave the village if you're with them!"

The head of the Houjou house glared at Oryō, and replied "I'll leave for sure, but only if you give me my due compensation!"

Oryō's eyes widened, and she stared at the man. "What?!"

"Houjou's right!" Another man yelled.

Another yelled out; "Some villagers want to leave this place!"

"The three houses have no right to involve us in this mess!" A third one shouted.

"Who said that just now?" Oryō demanded.

"We have the right to choose!"

"Who are you to take that away from us!"

"That's right!" Houjou yelled, "Stay out of this, you hag!"

The villagers on Houjou's side begin yelling out as well, all increasing in anger.

Oryō slowly stood up, staring at them. "You've done it." She said quietly. "You sure have done it, Houjou."

Hector quietly slipped in, unseen by anyone as Oryō glared at Houjou.

"It's been a while since I, Oryō Sonozaki, have felt this angry. You will take responsibility for this. Look forward to it!"

Houjou stepped forward, as angry as Hector has ever seen a man.

"I'll kill you, you damn hag. Come here if you dare, you hag!"

The Sonozaki member from earlier got in front of Houjou, and lunged for him.

"Houjou, you traitor!"

He threw a punch at Houjou, who slapped his hand aside and grabbed him by his hair.

"Learn your place!" He yelled as he spun around and threw the man to the ground.

A man ran at Houjou, yelling "Die Houjou!" and punched him, sending him flying into the villagers behind him. Soon all the villagers were at each others' throats.

Hector watched from the side, and noticed Houjou rushing towards Oryō. Kasai and Akane were busy dealing with villagers attacking them to notice him.

Hector sighed and strode forward right as Houjou threw a punch at Oryō. It connected with Hector's face, causing a loud noise that stopped everyone.

Houjou slowly looked up at Hector, who smirked and grabbed the man's fist with his left hand and slowly removed it from his face. Houjou's face drained of colour as he saw who he had just punched.

"Hey now, what's with this? Looks like some rough business is going on. I didn't know you were all having a free for all brawl, why didn't you invite me?"

"Furude.." Oryō said softly behind Hector. Houjou quickly regained his wits and spat at Hector's face.

"Stay out of this boy! This doesn't concern you, especially since you're not even from Hinamizawa! You're an outsider who's father married into the Furude family!"

Hector continued to smile, but tightened his grip around Houjou's fist, causing the man to wince.

"Not from Hinamizawa eh?" Hector said slowly, looking Houjou right in the eyes. Even for his age, he was pretty tall, and very strong.

"Indeed, I was not born in Hinamizawa, and I'm only part of the Furude family because my father married the head of the family, that is true. However, you are dead wrong when you say this doesn't concern me."

Glaring at Houjou now, Hector slowly drew back his right hand, and made a fist. Houjou had only enough time to widen his eyes before Hector punched him in the face as hard as he could.

There was a crunch as cartilage broke and a spray of blood as Houjou went flying past the villagers and crashed onto the flood behind them.

Hector slowly stood up and glanced around him.

"Anyone else wish to be next? I could use a good workout."

All the villagers backed away, shaking their heads. Hector grunted and glanced down at his hand. The knuckles were cracked open and bleeding and he couldn't move his fingers.

"Tch, and I have things to move around later today..."

He turned around to Oryō and bowed then walked past the villagers who quickly made room for him and headed towards the local clinic.

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Later that evening, the Furude family were sitting at their table, eating supper together. Hector used his right hand, which was bandaged up, to hold his bowl while he ate with his left. It was awkward for him, and his food often fell back into the bowl, but he wasn't about to start using his right hand for anything else for a while.

"Hector" his father said suddenly, causing Hector to look up, "I heard you got into a fight this afternoon, and judging by your hand, it was a bad one."

Hector shrugged. He knew his father hated it when he fought, and he had hoped it wouldn't be brought up, but that wasn't the case.

"Aye, I did. I punched Houjou right in the face, broke his nose. Knocked him clean out."

Hector's father and his step-mother both gasped, dropping their chopsticks. Hector glanced up, only realizing at that moment how bad that sounded.

"Calm down, I didn't start the fight! Actually, I let Houjou make the first blow."

His father stared at him in disapproval. "Hector, why on earth did you get into a fight with Houjou?!"

"He was going to punch old lady Oryō, I simply stepped in and took the blow for her."

"What?!" His mother cried in surprise. His father stared at him in shock, while Hector's half-sister Rika looked at Hector.

"Don't worry, I didn't hit him that hard. He'll be fine after a few days."

"Hector, what have I told you about getting into fights like that!" His father said. Hector sighed, knowing what was going to come next.

"What was I suppose to do, allow him to attack an old lady whom he threatened to kill? If there's one thing I learned growing up, it's to help people who can't help themselves."

"Your brother, Urther, wouldn't have punched him, nor would he have gotten into a fight!"

Hector's eyes darkened at that. He had been close to his older brother, Urther, back when he and his father had lived in Tokyo. However his brother had died years ago, taken by the same illness that had taken Hector's mother.

His father only just now seemed to realize what he had said. "Hector, wait I didn't mean-"

"I'm done."

Hector pushed his bowl of food away and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him. He walked out and made his way to the Furude Shrine, going inside it.

Almost no one but certain villagers were allowed inside, but Hector went anyway. He helped maintain the place and was often asked to carry large items and tools inside.

Closing the doors behind him, he gazed up at the statue of Oyashiro, Hinamizawa's resident god. He sat down in front of it and stared at it for a while.

"You approve what I did, don't you? After all, Houjou wants Hinamizawa to be flooded. If you did something, I bet that would've shut them all up just as well."

The statue didn't answer back and Hector sighed and laid on the floor with his hands under his head. He didn't really believe in Oyashiro, or his Curse, but that didn't mean he had to scoff at it either, and with his step-mother talking about Oyashiro all the time, it was hard not to listen.

Suddenly there was a loud thump, and Hector sat up. "Rika?" He called out, looking around. Sometimes she would sneak into the Shrine as well, but right now that didn't seem to be the case.

Hector slowly stood up and looked around, but didn't see anything. He heard the thump again, this time behind him. Slowly, he turned around and stared at the statue of Oyashiro and frowned.

"Stop that. If I wanted an answer to my question, I would have asked for one. It's called a rhetorical question, it's not meant to be answered."

The thumping stopped, and Hector sighed. Great, now he was talking to a statue of a pagan god who he might or might not believe in.

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_**Date: **1983_

_**Location: **Tokyo_

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Hector yawned and stretched. He had been sitting in a train for the past five hours and it was about time he got to move. He checked his watch and sighed. He still had to take a bus ride to Okinomiya, then walk to Hinamizawa.

Hector smiled. If all went smoothly, he'd arrive in Hinamizawa and be able to stay for the month. After all, the Watanagashi festival was this month, and he wanted to be there this year. It wasn't normal for a festival to have two people vanish, one murdered, every year after all.

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**Author's Notes: **_Hi guys! I had this idea stuck around in my head for about a year and a half now, and I wanted to see how it went when written. This is an experiment fanfic, with me trying out a different writing style and story.  
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_This is the result. I'll try sticking to the Higurashi story as close as I can, or as closely as possible when you have Fire Emblem characters in the story.  
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_And don't worry, I won't neglect **Wandering Knight, Phantom Claymore** and **Tears of an Angel **either. I'm just taking a quick break to get more inspiration to write.  
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_Hope you enjoy this fanfic! R&R please, it's always appreciated!  
_


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